atar noun "father" (SA; WJ:402, UT:193, LT1:255, VT43:37, VT44:12). According to the Etymologies (ATA) the pl. is atari, but contrast #atári in Atanatári "Fathers of Men" (q.v.); possibly the word behaves differently when compounded. Atarinya "my father" (LR:70), atar(inya) the form a child would use addressing his or her father, also reduced to atya (VT47:26). Diminutive masc. name Atarincë ("k") "Little father", amilessë (never used in narrative) of Curufinwë = Curufin (PM:353). Átaremma, Ataremma "our Father" as the first word of the Quenya translation of the Lord's Prayer, written before Tolkien changed -mm- as the marker of 1st person pl. exclusive to -lm-; notice -e- as a connecting vowel before the ending -mma "our". In some versions of the Lord's Prayer, including the final version, the initial a of atar "father" is lengthened, producing #átar. This may be a contraction of *a atar "o Father", or the vowel may be lengthened to give special emphasis to #Átar "Father" as a religious title (VT43:13). However, in VT44:12 Atar is also a vocative form referring to God, and yet the initial vowel remains short.
Quenya
atarincë
masculine name. Little Father
Elements
Word Gloss atar “father” -incë “diminutive ending” Variations
- Atarinkë ✧ PM/353; PMI/Curufin
atar
father
atar
noun. father
atar
noun. father
The Quenya word for “father”, derived from the root √AT(AR) (PM/324; WJ/402; VT48/19).
Conceptual Development: ᴱQ. atar “father” dates all the way back to the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, though in that document it was “a more solemn word ... usually to 1st Person of the Blessed Trinity”, as opposed to more ordinary ᴱQ. attu “father” (QL/33). In the English-Qenya Dictionary of the 1920s, ᴱQ. atar was the ordinary word for “father”, but with variant archaic form †attar (PE15/72). ᴹQ. atar “father” reappeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s as a derivative of the root ᴹ√ATA of the same meaning (Ety/ATA). It appeared again in the Quenya Verbal System of the 1940s in various inflected forms (PE22/118-119). It continued to appear regularly in Tolkien’s later writings. Thus this word was established early and retained its form throughout Tolkien’s life with only minor variations.
Cognates
- S. adar “father” ✧ PM/324
Derivations
Element in
- Q. alcar i Ataren ar i Yondon ar i Airefëan “glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit” ✧ VT43/37
- Q. Atanatar “Father of Men” ✧ SA/atar
- Q. atar aranya “*royal father” ✧ UT/193
- Q. Átaremma i ëa han Eä “our Father who art in Heaven” ✧ VT43/13; VT43/13; VT43/13; VT43/13; VT43/13; VT43/13; VT43/13
- Q. Atarincë “Little Father”
- Q. Atar meneldëa Eru órava (o)messë “God the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us” ✧ VT44/16
- Q. atartil “thumb [nursery rhymes]”
- Q. atya “daddy, (my) father”
- Q. Ilquendatar “Father of All Quendi”
- Q. Ilúvatar “Father of All” ✧ SA/atar; WJ/402
- Q. Návatar “*Dwarf-father”
- ᴺQ. atartur “patriarch, (lit.) master-father”
Variations
- atar ✧ PM/324; SA/atar; UT/193; VT43/37; WJ/402
- Atar ✧ VT44/16
hérincë
little lady
hérincë ("k") noun *"little lady" (UT:195). Concerning the diminutive ending, cf. Atarincë, cirinci.
Návatar
father
Návatar noun a title of Aulë referring to his position as the immediate author of the Dwarvish race, apparently including atar "father", but the first element cannot be related to any known term for "Dwarf" (PM:391 cf. 381)
atto
father, daddy
atto noun "father, daddy" (hypocoristic)(ATA, LR:49), supposedly a word in "actual 'family' use" (VT47:26), also used in children's play for "thumb" and "big toe" (VT47:10, 26, VT48:4, 6). The dual form attat listed in VT48:19 seems to be formed from the alternative form atta, though attat was changed by Tolkien from attot. - Compare atya.
The mother-name of S. Curufin (PM/352). It is a compound of atar “father” and the diminutive suffix -incë.